Martin Odegaard has proven to be a successful signing for Arsenal since joining from Real Madrid. The Norwegian midfielder has consistently displayed fine form during his time at the Emirates, showcasing significant development.
However, not everyone believed in Odegaard’s potential during his teenage years, including former Everton and Tottenham scout Bryan King. Many child prodigies face challenges in realising their full potential, leading to scepticism when emerging talents show promise.
Despite initial doubts, Odegaard has now reached his full potential and established himself as one of the top midfielders in England. King, however, recalls a trial where Odegaard was criticized for being too lazy.
He said, as quoted by Football Insider:
“Martin was 14 years old playing with tremendous skill and ability when I first saw him.
“But he was lazy! He was a lazy boy.
“It was about minus six degrees outside and we were freezing.
“So I was expecting Martin to run about a bit just to keep warm.
“Looking at him on that day, you would have said ‘no’ (to signing him).”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Odegaard has been one of the finest midfielders in our squad, and the Norwegian will continue to do well.
We took a chance on him while he struggled in Madrid, which shows sometimes a book should not be judged by its cover.
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A hugely talented kid but his father initial choice of club was poor and no doubt hampered his development.
Odegaard may be footballing or physically weak in his teen years growing up. But as adult now and a mature man footballers. He’s very strong and hard working in matches for Arsenal as a top midfielder, goals Scorer and captains the Gunners.
👍
A talented footballer but lacks that killer instinct and timing to be up their with the likes of KDB. Needs to prove himself in big moments and win us trophies, to be put on a pedestal. A little like Martinelli, there is more to come but will it?
Reggie, it would help if strikers like Nketiah could make intelligent runs into space, so that Odegaard can pick them up with a pass or through ball.
Great signing but i see minuses of his last presence. Either not gonna say so much because he don’t deserve critics. He is always first at pressing unless Jesus will cover that area before him and hes also coming back as none of our previous AMFs.
The only things i see he could improve is shots and consistency but i hope he will be just better and better. No need that frustration as it was visible last few games…
He is great signing. For sure!
Agree Santi, I too wish he would be more selfish and run on goal and shoot more. Last season Odegaard scored 15 valuable goals.
Maybe he just didn’t find it necessary or prudent to play in that minus 6 degree temperature. Perhaps he didn’t realize the criteria being used to judge him on that day. Prodigies (whether physical or mental) are often seen as lazy because they’ve never had to work as hard as others to achieve satisfying results. As they attempt to achieve higher levels of performance and eventually realize that this is no longer true, they typically respond by working harder and becoming less “lazy”.